Twilight: But it's a Thriller and I Never Read Twilight

Part of me still regretted not leaving, but the rest of the night was fine. We took turns telling ghost stories around the fire. Despite the cold, I wasn't shivering as the fire crackled and shifted the light.

Close to midnight, the fire died, and I dragged Jessica along back to the truck. Some time in the night, she'd stolen Eric's jacket which fit her well and kept her warm. I wondered if that was her plan all along, but she'd never mentioned having a crush on Eric to me. I decided it was nothing as we got into the car and backed out, heading back through the forest and the treaty land for home.

I thought it would be a quiet ride home with the static of the radio covering our thoughts, but as I lost sight of the beach in my rearview window, Jessica cleared her throat and sat a little straighter. She looked to me, and I only caught a glimpse of her gaze, sympathetic and filled with regret.

"I'm sorry about what I said back there," she said. She blinked away the tired look on her face, but it returned quickly. The dark road with no change didn't seem the make things better.

"About Edward?" I asked. I'd almost forgotten the conversation. There had been so many horror stories told that I hadn't even thought about the one I was living in.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm scared for you, I really am. I just wish you hadn't mentioned it."

I kept my eyes firmly on the road and my hands wrapped around the steering wheel. I couldn't look at her, but I could feel her pressure. "Why?" I asked. "Do you know something?"

In the quiet, I could hear her breathing deep and conscious breaths, like she was trying to decide how to proceed. I didn't ask anything more even though I really wanted her to answer. She sounded scared though.

Finally, she spoke, her voice strained and hoarse like she was pushing the words uphill. "I saw the crash."

I wanted to stop and look at her, but the road was curving, and it was too dark to see much of anything anyway. Instead, I kept driving like my life depended on me getting home. "And Edward?" I asked.

"I saw him. Like you said, he was on the other side of the parking lot," she explained. "And then he wasn't."

I'd been right, but I didn't know if I could be happy about that. Edward really was wrong, but that didn't protect me. I wasn't sure anything could protect me. He was so dead set on making me the object of his ire and with this revelation, there was really nothing I could do about it.

I regretted yelling at him, suddenly. He'd only been staring at me then, but the longer I spent dealing with him, the more dangerous he became. If I hadn't said anything to him, I might have never seen him in the woods, I might have died in that car crash. I almost wished I was dead.

"What does that mean?" I asked, my head racing with thoughts. He was a monster or a psychopath.

"I'll help you," she said. "If you're looking for answers or something, I'll help you. I just don't want you to try and do this alone."

I gritted my teeth as I drove. It wouldn't be long before we passed the reservation. I thought about staying there with Jacob and Billy. If Edward wouldn't come there, I'd be safe, but Charlie wouldn't understand this. I didn't understand it. If anything, maybe Edward was smart enough not to attack me, not to break into my house while Charlie was there.

"Do you think he's going to kill me?" I asked, but the answer never came.

Something flashed suddenly in my headlights. Eyes reflected the yellow light of the headlights as a deer stood fast just in front of my truck, only feet away from us. I swerved and slammed on the breaks as the deer held its ground. By some luck, I was able to stop before I crashed into the creature as it stood.